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THE NEW YORKER, SEPTEMBER 1, 2014
For AIPAC, it is crucial to appeal across the political spectrum. But Israel has become an increasingly divisive issue with the public.
THE POLITICAL SCENE
FRIENDS OF ISRAEL
The lobbying group AIPAC has consistently fought the Obama Administration on policy. Is it now losing influence?
BY CONNIE BRUCK
On July 23rd, o cials of the American
Israel Public A airs Committee---
the powerful lobbying group known as
AIPAC gathered in a conference room at
the Capitol for a closed meeting with a
dozen Democratic senators. The agenda
of the meeting, which was attended by
other Jewish leaders as well, was the war
in the Gaza Strip. In the century-long
conflict between the Israelis and the Pal-
estinians, the previous two weeks had been
particularly harrowing. In Israeli towns
and cities, families heard sirens warning of
incoming rockets and raced to shelters. In
Gaza, there were scenes of utter devasta-
tion, with hundreds of Palestinian children
dead from bombing and mortar fire. The
Israeli government claimed that it had
taken extraordinary measures to minimize
civilian casualties, but the United Nations
was launching an inquiry into possible war
crimes. Even before the fighting escalated,
the United States, Israel's closest ally, had
made little secret of its frustration with the
government of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. "How will it have peace if it is
unwilling to delineate a border, end the oc-
cupation, and allow for Palestinian sover-
eignty, security, and dignity?" Philip Gor-
don, the White House coördinator for
the Middle East, said in early July. "It can-
not maintain military control of another
people indefinitely. Doing so is not only
wrong but a recipe for resentment and re-
curring instability."Although the Admin-
istration repeatedly rea rmed its support
for Israel, it was clearly uncomfortable
with the scale of Israel's aggression. AI PAC
did not share this unease; it endorsed a
Senate resolution in support of Israel's
"right to defend its citizens," which had
seventy-nine co-sponsors and passed
without a word of dissent.
AI PAC is prideful about its influence.
Its promotional literature points out that
a reception during its annual policy con-
ference, in Washington, "will be attended
by more members of Congress than al-
most any other event, except for a joint
session of Congress or a State of the
Union address." A former AI PAC execu-
tive, Steven Rosen, was fond of telling
people that he could take out a napkin at
any Senate hangout and get signatures of
support for one issue or another from
scores of senators. A I PAC has more than
a hundred thousand members, a network
of seventeen regional o ces, and a vast
pool of donors. The lobby does not raise
funds directly. Its members do, and the
amount of money they channel to polit-
ical candidates is di cult to track. But
everybody in Congress recognizes its in-
fluence in elections, and the e ect is ev-
ident. In 2011, when the Palestinians an-
nounced that they would petition the
U.N. for statehood, AI PAC helped per-
suade four hundred and forty-six mem-
bers of Congress to co-sponsor resolu-
tions opposing the idea.
During the Gaza conflict, AI PAC has
made a priority of sending a message of
bipartisan congressional support for all
of Israel's actions. Pro-Israel resolutions
passed by unanimous consent carry weight,
but not nearly so much as military fund-
ing. During the fighting, Israel has relied
on the Iron Dome system, a U.S.-funded
missile defense that has largely neutral-
ized Hamas's rockets. Although the U.S.
was scheduled to deliver $351 million for
the system starting in October, AI PAC
wanted more money right away. On July
22nd, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
had sent a letter to Harry Reid, the Sen-
ate Majority Leader, seeking an immedi-
ate payment of $225 million.
In the conference room, the senators
sat on one side of a long table, the Jewish
leaders on the other. Robert Cohen, the
president of AI PAC, justified Israel's as-
sault, agreeing with Netanyahu that
Hamas was ultimately responsible for the
deaths of its own citizens. At one point,
Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia,
asked about conservative trends in Israel,
a participant recalled. "He said that he
supports Israel, but he's concerned that Is-
rael is headed toward a one-state solu-
tion---and that would be so damaging
and dangerous for everyone involved."
Charles Schumer, the senior Demo-
crat from New York, interrupted. Turn-
ing to address the room, he said, "It trou-
bles me when I hear people equate Israel
and Hamas. That's wrong, that's terri-
ble!" Kaine protested, "That's not what
I meant!" Cohen simply repeated that
Hamas was to blame for everything that
was happening.
The Senate, preparing for its August
recess, hastened to vote on the Iron Dome
funding. At first, the appropriation was
bundled into an emergency bill that also
included money to address the underage
refugees flooding across the Mexican bor-
der. But, with only a few days left before
the break began, that bill got mired in a
partisan fight. Reid tried to package Iron
Dome with money for fighting wildfires,
and then o ered it by itself; both e orts
failed, stopped largely by budget hawks. "If
you can't get it done the night before re-
cess, you bemoan the fact that you couldn't
get it done, and everybody goes home," a
congressional sta er said. Instead, Mitch
McConnell, of Kentucky, the Republican
leader, decided to stay over, even if it meant
missing an event at home.The next morn-
ing, with the halls of the Senate all but
empty, an unusual session was convened so
that McConnell and Reid could try again
to pass the bill; Tim Kaine was also there,
along with the Republicans John McCain
and Lindsey Graham."There were five
senators present and literally no one else!"
the sta er said. "They reintroduced it and
passed it.This was one of the more amaz-
ing feats, for A I PAC."
In a press conference, Graham, who
has been a major recipient of campaign